Assessment means any fee or charge levied or imposed by the Secretary or a delegated State other than:

1. (1) The principal amount of any royalty, minimum royalty, rental, bonus, net profit share or proceed of sale;
2. (2) Any interest; or

3. (3) Any civil or criminal penalty.

   Delegated State means a State to which ONRR has delegated authority to perform royalty management functions under an agreement or agreements under regulations at 30 CFR part 1227.

   Designee means the person designated by a lessee under 30 CFR 1218.52 to make all or part of the royalty or other payments due on a lease on the lessee's behalf.

   IBLA means the Interior Board of Land Appeals.

   Indian lessor means an Indian tribe or individual Indian mineral owner with a beneficial or restricted interest in a property that is subject to a lease issued or administered by the Secretary on behalf of the tribe or individual Indian mineral owner.

   Lease means any agreement authorizing exploration for or extraction of any mineral, regardless of whether the instrument is expressly denominated as a “lease,” including any:

4. (1) Contract;
5. (2) Net profit share arrangement;
6. (3) Joint venture; or

7. (4) Agreement the Secretary approves under the Indian Mineral Development Act, 25 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.

   Lessee means any person to whom the United States, or the United States on behalf of an Indian tribe or individual Indian mineral owner, issues a lease subject to this part, or any person to whom all or part of the lessee's interest or operating rights in a lease subject to this part has been assigned.

   Notice of Order means the notice that ONRR or a delegated State issues to a lessee that informs the lessee that ONRR or the delegated State has issued an order to the lessee's designee.

   Obligation means:

8. (1) A lessee's, designee's or payor's duty to:

   1. (i) Deliver oil or gas royalty in kind; or
   2. (ii) Make a lease-related payment, including royalty, minimum royalty, rental, bonus, net profit share, proceeds of sale, interest, penalty, civil penalty, or assessment; and

9. (2) The Secretary's duty to:

   1. (i) Take oil or gas royalty-in-kind; or
   2. (ii) Make a lease-related payment, refund, offset, or credit, including royalty, minimum royalty, rental, bonus, net profit share, proceeds of sale, or interest.

10. (3) The obligations identified in paragraphs (1)(i) and (2)(i) of this definition are nonmonetary obligations. The obligations identified in paragraphs (1)(ii) and (2)(ii), including the requirement to compute the amount of such obligations, are monetary obligations.

    Order, for purposes of this part only, means any document issued by ONRR or a delegated State that contains mandatory or ordering language that requires the recipient to do any of the following for any lease subject to this part: Report, compute, or pay royalties or other obligations, report production, or provide other information.

11. (1) Order includes:

    1. (i) An order to pay (Order to Pay) or to compute and pay (Order to Perform a Restructured Accounting); and
    2. (ii) An ONRR or delegated State decision to deny a lessee's, designee's, or payor's written request that asserts an obligation due the lessee, designee, or payor (Denial).

12. (2) Order does not include:

    1. (i) A non-binding request, information, or guidance, such as:

       1. (A) Advice or guidance on how to report or pay, including a valuation determination, unless it contains mandatory or ordering language; and
       2. (B) A policy determination;
    2. (ii) A subpoena;
    3. (iii) An order to pay that ONRR issues to a refiner or other person involved in disposition of royalty taken in kind;
    4. (iv) A Notice of Noncompliance or a Notice of Civil Penalty issued under 30 U.S.C. 1719 and 30 CFR part 1241, or a decision of an administrative law judge or of the IBLA following a hearing on the record on a Notice of Noncompliance or Notice of Civil Penalty;
    5. (v) A “Dear Payor,” “Dear Operator,” or “Dear Reporter” letter unless it explicitly includes the right to appeal in writing; or

    6. (vi) Any correspondence that does not include the right to appeal in writing.

       Party means ONRR, any person who files a Notice of Appeal, and any person who files a Notice of Joinder in an appeal under this part.

[64 FR 26257, May 13, 1999, as amended at 71 FR 51752, Aug. 31, 2006; 78 FR 30206, May 22, 2013; 79 FR 62050, Oct. 16, 2014]